Stomatological glossary

Decrease of solid dental tissue caused by external factors (eating habits, cleaning of teeth, habits such as chewing of hard objects, such as pencils, etc.

ABSCESS

An inflammatory bordered cavity filled with pus.

APHTHAE

Pain is a common condition characterized by the repeated formation of benign and non-contagious mouth ulcers (aphthae) in otherwise healthy individuals. The cause is not completely understood but involves a T cell-mediated immune response triggered by a variety of factors. Different individuals have different triggers, which may include nutritional deficiencies, local trauma, stress, hormonal influences, allergies, genetic predisposition or other factors. Treatment is symptomatic – disinfectant solution, vitamins (B group). It is usually cured within a week.

ALVEOLITIS, ALVEOLITIDA

Inflammation of an extracted bed. Most common after the extraction of lower wisdom teeth.

ACUTE PULPITIS

It is an inflammation of dental pulp tissue. Acute pulpitis is very painful. Patients are usually not able to determine the causal tooth. It starts with higher sensitivity or pain when drinking cold drinks, gradually the pain becomes spontaneous without irritation and analgetics work only for a limited period of time or do not work at all. It is very important to visit your dentist and undergo endodontic treatment (removal of an inflamed dental pulp of the tooth, using local anaesthesia, mechanical dressing and disinfection of root canals and their filling).

TEETH BLEACHING

A technique of whitening patient’s teeth. The active substances used are based on peroxide – hydrogen peroxide, carbamide peroxide, sodium perborate. Complex chemical substances that cause coloration of the teeth decompose them into simple chemical substances which are also lighter. Bleaching can be either external (surgical/home) or internal (teeth whitening coloured after an endodontic treatment or tooth injuries)

BITE-WING

X-ray examination helping to reveal interdental decays or decays under the fillings, which are not commonly revealed by ordinary clinical examination. More than 50% of decays are not revealed. This should be a common part of all preventive check-ups done at least once a year.

BRUXISMUS

Involuntary, non-physiological teeth clenching and grinding, typically during sleep, which may lead to the teeth being excessively worn out.. Secondary consequences could be disorders of the temporomandibular joints caused by muscle imbalance and changing jaw relationships. It might be caused by stress. Bruxismus is treated by unblocking stress factors, using a protective splint that protects from excessive wearing out of teeth. Sometimes a complete reconstruction of a set of teeth is necessary.

SENSITIVE TOOTH NECKS

An unpleasant painful state, which is a frequent reason for visiting a dentist. Teeth are sensitive to cold, sweet, sour, cold wind and cleaning. The cause is usually an exposed tooth dentin with open dentil tubules and irritation of nerve endings. This occurs often with exposed tooth necks or unsuitable fillings. The solution could be a new filling or the use of appropriate toothpastes and mouthwash that contains active substance, which reduces the sensitivity of teeth. An application of a special protective varnish might help as well.

DENTIN

Dentin is a calcified tissue of the body and, along with enamel, cementum, and pulp, is one of the four major components of teeth. It is usually covered by enamel on the crown and cementum on the root and surrounds the entire pulp.

DENTITIO DIFFICILIS

It is a difficult teething of a tooth, especially of wisdom teeth.

ENDODONTICS

A treatment of root canals – mechanical and chemical dressing of a root systém and its filling by gutta-percha or sealer. The reason for this treatment is an inflammation of a dental pulp – pulpitis or a sac (in case the tooth is „dead“)

EXTRUSION

It is an orthodontic movement of a tooth outside of a tooth bed. The reason for this treatment is a deep fracture of teeth, which can easily appear under the bone and our dentist needs to be able to treat and repair the crown part.

EXTRACTION

A surgical intervention, which requires the removal of a tooth from its dental bed; local anaesthesia is used.

Fixed orthodontic appliance

Braces fixed to the surface of a tooth for the entire length of orthodontic treatment. Normally, they are stuck from the cheek part of the mouth, however new systems of orthodontic appliances have been developed recently. These new appliances can be stuck from the tongue part of the mouth which makes wearing it nearly invisible.

FRENECTOMY

It is the removal of a frenulum, a small fold of tissue; local anaesthesia is used.

GANGRENE OF THE DENTAL PULP

It is an infected necrosis of the dental pulp. Open pulp gangrene smells unpleasantly. To treat this, it is necessary to undergo endodontic treatment of root canals or alternatively, the extraction of the tooth.

GINGIVECTOMY

It is a surgical removal of a distended gum using scalpel or RF power. Patients undergo this treatment under local anaesthesia, often during prosthetic treatment. The most common cause is inflammation and effects of some medicaments.

GINGIVITIS

A gum inflammation caused by insufficient dental hygiene. It is visible – swelling, gum bleeding, higher sensitivity, pain. As a solution, patients have to use suitable tooth brushes and perform proper dental hygiene.

GUTTA-PERCHA

A material from a natural origin, similar to natural rubber. This material is used to fill root canals.

CALCIUM HYDROXIDE

Often used in stomatology with a large spectrum of activity. Calcium hydroxide can be used in temporary treatment of root canals or to cover dental pulp when treating deep decays.

HYPODONTIA

Hypodontia describes a situation where a patient is missing up to five permanent teeth, excluding the 3rd molars. It is a result of the failure of those teeth to develop.

HYPERDONTIA

Hyperdontia is the condition of having supernumerary teeth. They can appear in any area of the dental arch, usually between mesiodens.

CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS

It is a common disease of the oral cavity, which is often developed from untreated pulpitis, chronic inflammation or after an injury. It is often asymptomatic and usually revealed during an X-ray examination. Sometimes the symptoms can be sensitivity, painful when biting or swollen. An endodontic treatment of root canals is used to treat this disease.

IMPLANTS

It is a substitution of a missing tooth, group of teeth or the whole dental arch. A dental implant consists of three parts: fixture – titan part inserted into the bone; abutments or supraconstruction – for example, a crown.

INCISION

Incision is cutting through soft tissue by using a scalpel, laser or high current frequency.

CARCINOMA

A malignant tumor with a very severe prognosis. In the oral cavity, it usually affects the tongue, adjacent mucosa and mucous membranes of maxillary sinus.

Cuneate (Wedge-shaped) DEFECTS

Wedge-shaped defects of dental hard tissues of the tooth neck region. They are caused by congestion of affected teeth in an irregular position and teeth bite, which leads to chipping of enamel and dentin. Therapy involves adjusting the bite, eventually overlaying the defect with photo-composite filler material.

KOFFERDAM (DENTAL GUM)

Also know as a dental dam or rubber dam. It is a thin, usually latex rubber, used in dentistry to isolate the operative site (one or more teeth) from the rest of the mouth. Its purpose is both to prevent saliva interfering with the dental work (e.g. contamination of oral micro-organisms during root canal therapy, or to keep filling materials such as composite dry during placement and curing). It is fixed by a kofferdam clip and a special frame.

CURETTAGE OF PERIODONTAL POCKET

Cleaning of a root‘s surface from plaque, tartar and infected cement by special curettes against paradentosis. This kind of treatment is very demanding.

A white small area on a mucous membrane, which is not possible to wipe away, usually without any problems.The cause is unknown. There are usually many kinds of irritations such as chronic mechanical, thermic or chemical. Smoking can play a big role too. Leukoplakia can sometimes appear as a precancerous lesion. In this case, an excision is inevitable, as well as an histopathological examination.

LINGUA GEOGRAPHICA / GLOSSITIS MIGRANS

It is an inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the tongue, usually on the dorsal surface. It can be simply recognized – it is characterized by areas of smooth red depapillation which migrate over time. Usually, it is absolutely painless, sometimes it can hurt while eating or drinking. This illness does not require any therapy.

LOCAL ANAESTHESIA

A local desensitization of targeted areas. The most known and used anaesthesia is articaine and mepivacaine. Their effect disappear after two hours.

MANDIBULAR ANAESTHESIA

An anaesthesia used on mandibular nerve. After its application, there is a one-sided desensitization ot teeth and tissue of the lower jaw and tongue.

NECROTIC PULP

A necrotic pulp is usually caused by an injury, decay, chronic irritation or trauma while tooth treatment. It can be cured by endodontic treatment of root canals.

NEURALGIA

It is severe pain in the distribution of a nerve or nerves, usually affecting the trigeminal nerve.

EXPOSED TOOTH NECKS

Tooth necks are exposed at the place which are normally covered by gum. They are partly caused by natural periodont atrophy, however maximally 2-3mm. Exposed tooth necks might be caused by an unsuitable way of cleaning teeth, gum irritation, highly placed frenula etc.

ORTHODONTICS

Orthodontics is a specialized field of dentistry. It deals primarily with the diagnosis, prevention and correction of malpositioned teeth and jaws. It mainly focuses on dental anomalies such as number, declination and position of teeth, groups of teeth or jaws.